New figures from MKG Hospitality on the Middle East and North Africa show a sharp split in regional hotel market performance largely driven by the level of political turmoil in the region.
In July 2011 RevPAR growth in the region fluctuated wildly. Turkey saw a year-on-year RevPAR upshot of 23%, driven mostly by ADR. Meanwhile, with the exception of Bahrain, countries along the Persian Gulf performed well, too, with United Arab Emirates’ RevPAR up over 20% year-on-year. Saudi Arabia also performed well with a 14% yearly increase in RevPAR.
“The good news is that the tide seems to be changing for the MENA region as a whole. Although some countries are still experiencing internal issues, the rest are no longer feeling the brunt,” said Vanguelis Panayotis, director of development at MKG Hospitality.
As expected, countries on the frontlines of the Arab Spring have seen large drop-offs in RevPAR. For the month of July, Egypt experienced a 36% year-on-year decline in RevPAR, Syria 28%, Tunisia 23% and Yemen a full 60%.